


Nightmares and Reality

by orphan_account



Category: DCU (Comics)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-25
Updated: 2015-01-25
Packaged: 2018-03-09 02:29:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,208
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3232895
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Pregnancy can bring many things. Happiness, a sense of fulfillment, content - but at night, what exactly does it bring? Sweet dreams or bitter nightmares?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Nightmares and Reality

Damian dropped a kiss on Mar’i’s temple and draped an arm across her shoulders, the position almost awkward with him sitting on a chair at the side of the bed rather than being in the bed with her. When the doctors and nurses had left, he climbed into the hospital bed with her 

“You are amazing,” he murmured into her ear as she turned towards him to the best of her abilities. “No, my love, stay where you are. It was hard on your body, you need to rest. Try not to move as much.” 

Mar’i ignored him and turned towards him anyway, fitting her head under his chin. They were the same height but she couldn’t resist fitting herself against him like this. Damian accepted it, besides there was nothing he could do to prevent her from doing what she wanted. 

She sighed and settled in. “Don’t try and mother me, Boy Wonder. You know that I don’t like laying on my back.”

“I know,” he laid a kiss on her cheek and smiled. Again, he couldn’t stop her from doing what she wanted. “Have I told you how beautiful you look right now?” Damian smiled down at her softly and smoothed back her damp hair from her face. “Practically radiant.”

Mar’i gave him a tired smile and started to relax. “Only a few times. Can you do that again?” She asked quietly. Her voice had dropped in volume considerably. She hadn’t been screaming while giving birth, that just wasn’t the kind of person she was. But she had been loud the few times she’d cried out. She’d bit back more than one shout but otherwise, she’d been fine. 

“What, this?” Damian pushed her hair back again, then tangled his fingers in it, rubbing her scalp and temples. Mar’i’s eyes fluttered shut as his fingers worked away on her head, turning to lay on her back again to give him easier access to her scalp. 

“Yeah,” she murmured. “It feels good.” Honestly, it felt more than good. It felt like he was giving her a gift from God but telling him that would only inflate his already large ego. “So, is she asleep?” She asked in reference to the newborn. If they couldn’t hear her, that was the mostly likely answer but it never hurt to ask. 

Damian nodded. “Yes, she fell asleep as soon as I took her in my arms. I’m sure your father got it on camera.” He chuckled and continued to rub her scalp. “I can’t quite tell whose eyes she has yet, yours or mine?”

“We won’t be able to tell until a few weeks from now but I’m absolutely certain she’ll have mine.” She grinned and cracked an eye to look at him. They’d been going back and forth for months on what the baby would be and look like. Who they’d take after and in what areas. It was all for fun, really, but it brought out a competitive streak in Mar’i that had been buried for since they were in their teens.

Damian smiled at her indulgently. “I’m not sure how you can be so sure of that, beloved.” 

She shrugged and opened her eyes to look at him. “I just know. And don’t smile like you’re humoring me,” Mar’i stuck her tongue out and Damian darted in fast to catch it between his teeth but wasn’t quick enough. She laughed at the playful expression dancing on his face as he pulled away. “Don’t bite my tongue either.” 

“If I can’t bite your tongue, what can I do?” He kissed her playfully, nipping at her bottom lip. 

“You can do a lot of things but I’m supposed to be _resting_ , remember?” Mar’i teased and tugged on his shirt. “But since you keep bothering me, I’m sure I’ll be awake for the rest of eternity.” Damian rolled his eyes at her statement but continued smiling. “So, while I’m awake, can you bring me the baby?” 

“Of course,” he hopped out of the bed and reached into the small, plastic basinet that was standard in the hospital’s maternity ward. He came out with the small bundle easily, she fit in the crook of his arm like she was nothing. They’d have to get some pictures of just how small she was later.  
Mar’i settled into the pillows stacked behind her, tired arms held out. The man smiled down at the infant in his arms, rocking slightly with each step, trying to keep the baby comfortable and asleep. Or at least, just comfortable. “And now you’re going to see Mommy,” he smiled down at the baby as he spoke softly and if it was possible, Mar’i’s heart swelled with even more love for the man she’d married only years before. Damian tipped forward slightly to lay the baby in Mar’i’s waiting arms.

She smiled at first before her brows drew together in confusion. Distressed confusion. “Damian, th – this isn’t Lil’i.” She almost flung the thing across the room but she controlled her urge. Whatever he’d placed in her arms was blue. It was shriveled and its face had turned a blue-violet that wasn’t seen in living creatures. 

Mar’i let out a shout and Damian took the thing from her arms quicker than she could shove it away and looked at her, disgusted.  
“Of course it is, what’s wrong with you?” He looked almost angry as he rocked back and forth, trying to make something dead go to sleep. 

“There’s nothing wrong with me, that baby is dead!” 

Damian shook his head, surprised, angry, disgusted. Almost every negative emotion the woman could name flickered across his face. “Mar’i, I can’t believe you would reject your own child. Even if she is more damaged than you are.” The malice in his eyes could hardly be contained as he looked on the panicked woman. “At least she’s mostly _human_ , Mar’i.”

She held back a gasp. That stung. That was an insecurity only he knew about. The fact that he’d use it against her had only lived in her nightmares. But then the image flickered when she heard her name. 

It wasn’t loud or forceful. It was mumbled and quiet, right in her ear. 

Mar’i startled awake, opening her eyes to the pitch dark of her bedroom. Her hand found her belly, still swollen. She sat up, still in her bed at home, with Damian who was currently rubbing his eyes and yawning.

“You were having a nightmare,” he sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. 

“Of course I was. Sorry.” 

He shook his head and sat up to rub her back. “It’s fine, I’m only worried about you. That’s the third this week, Mar’i. What was it about?”  
Mar’i shook her head and wiped the scant tears away blindly with her fingers before Damian enveloped her in his arms. “I don’t want to talk about it, Damian.”  
He kissed the top of her head quickly. “Just think, the baby will be here in less than two weeks. Maybe once she’s born, you will stop having these nightmares.”

“You said ‘she’,” Mar’i spoke quietly as she leaned into him, calming as the nightmare faded away with the warmth of his skin.

“I suppose I did.”

**Author's Note:**

> So, I retooled an old drabble I found buried in my word documents. It was on the old [flyingnightstar](http://flyingnightstar.tumblr.com/) blog but when my RP blog accidentally got deleted, so did all of my work. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed it!


End file.
